Castaway children in six-day island ordeal

Three children survived being shipwrecked on a tropical island for six days after a boat accident which may have killed three of their family.

The two sisters and a brother lived off coconuts, shellfish and fruit after their 16ft dinghy capsized in the Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and northern Australia.

The castaways - Ellis Tamwoy, 15, Norita, ten, and 12-year-old Stephen, also known as Bala - swam more than two miles to safety.

But their father, mother and threeyearold brother, Clarence, were still missing last night and feared drowned.

The children's ordeal began last Tuesday when they set off from their home on Badu Island to attend a relative's 21st birthday party on Thursday Island, a three-hour journey.

But soon after setting off, their aluminium dinghy's engine cut out in the choppy seas and the boat capsized.

Their father Haley, a church pastor, told them to swim to a small island while he and their mother, Lisa, stayed with Clarence.

Their aunt, Wendy Phineasa, said: 'They kept looking back and they could see their mum and dad in the water until a good distance away and then when they looked back they couldn't see them any more.

'Thank God the three children are very good swimmers.'

Another aunt, Vickie Tamwoy, said the children reached some rocks after several hours, but on Friday Bala decided they should make for Matu Island - another two miles away - where they could find food.

She added: 'Bala said to the girls, "If we don't swim for that island we're going to die".'

Mrs Tamwoy said the children reached the island on Monday after swimming via a series of rocky outcrops separated by sea.

They survived on coconuts, a few oysters and a local fruit called the 'Torres Strait' plum.

Rescuers were only alerted on Monday and the children were found the same day by an uncle in a boat.

'They started waving and shouting with all their might and heart and they were seen,' said Mrs Phineasa.

'They were all shivering and really weak, and they just ran to him and hugged him and started crying.'

Mrs Tamwoy said the children were a bit dehydrated and sunburnt and Ellis had coral cuts on her feet.

Meanwhile, the search has continued for the missing family members, who had just one lifejacket between them. Ben Mitchell, of the Australian Maritime-Safety Authority, said an air and sea search was continuing.

'We have considerable concerns for their welfare,' he said. 'We hope they have made it to an outcrop or island.'

Large families commonly travel by boat between the thousands of tiny islands in the Torres Strait, which is described as the region's highway.